The Oddity
by pochapal
Summary: Five years ago, the FAYZ barrier in Perdido Beach, California came down, along with all the anomalies it brought. And now, in a city in England, the laws of the universe are being broken once more as nearly a thousand kids under 15 are trapped within the confines of a strange barrier, where life soon becomes a struggle to survive. This is the Oddity.
1. One

**A/N: Hey. What you happen to be reading is my own FAYZ-fic. (Pretty sure it's a law of GONE writers on Fanfiction to try out one) Anywho, this won't be a carbon copy of the first book at all, instead my own view on how something like this could happen.**

**And yeah, that's that. I hope you enjoy this thing! :D**

* * *

**One**

**252 Hours 13 Minutes**

* * *

Ethan was sat in the middle of his chemistry exam when it happened. One second the raspy breath of the exam moderator who so desperately tried to hide the fact that she chain smoked was grating on his ears. The next it was gone.

He knew he shouldn't, but curiosity got the better of Ethan. He looked up to the front of the exam hall. The large countdown timer was still ticking away, 15 minutes left, but the entire moderation team was gone. And so had half of the students in the exam hall. A chill ran down Ethan's spine as he looked around; none of them were due to leave yet, no matter the circumstance, yet it seemed that every other student had just disappeared.

"Where'd Maia go?" the voice of Charlotte, a short dumpy girl with greasy blonde hair in crude pigtails and oversized glasses sounded out in a whisper, conscious of the fact that she was risking disqualification from the exam.

"Beats me," another boy, somewhere from the back of the hall said. "Probably wherever all the teachers and Lukas went." Ethan looked back to see Ryan standing, shrugging his shoulders. Ryan was a tall kid who moved from Pakistan when he was four. They generally got along, but Ethan wouldn't really call Ryan a friend.

"Darcy's gone too!"

"So's Rolan!" The anxious voices of the students got to Ethan, and he took several deep breaths, trying to calm his breathing. Whatever had happened wasn't normal, that was for sure.

Just then, the doors to the exam hall burst open. Every head turned to them, half expecting the others to walk back in. Instead, what they got was a pair of confused students. Ethan recognised them as Ebony and Raoul. They were two years below him in school, so he didn't really interact with them much, but they lived in the same neighbourhood as him. And from the way their hands were entwined, it was clear they were dating.

"Hey," Ebony said, her voice echoing around the large room. "Have any of you seen Mrs Terrell? She just vanished from our English class." Ethan, along with a few others, shook his head.

"Same situation here guys," Ryan replied flatly. "Half the people here have just upped and left." He didn't seem too concerned, but more perplexed than anything.

"Hold up a second," Lynn, an Asian girl with mid-back length hair adorned with accessories and braces said, standing up. "Haven't you guys noticed anything?" Ethan stared at her blankly. "No? Well, just look around you. Notice anything odd about the people who vanished?"

"They're all either in our year group or an adult," Charlotte said.

"Right," Lynn replied. "And notice anything about the age range of our year group?"

"Fourteen to fifteen," Raoul said, seeming to be half in a trance.

"And notice something about those in our year group who vanished?"

"They were fifteen." Ethan said, realising that he hadn't spoken yet.

"Exactly," Lynn said. "Doesn't this remind you of anything?"

"Wait, but Darcy was fourteen," Ryan interjected.

"Actually, today's her fifteenth birthday," Charlotte said.

"Oh,"

"That's beside the point," Lynn said, taking control of the conversation once more. "So, think about it: everyone over fifteen suddenly vanishing, the kids left behind. Think back five years to California." Seeing a sea of blank stares, Lynn sighed. "Perdido Beach Anomaly?" Nothing. "Fallout Alley Youth Zone?" Still nothing. "The FAYZ?" Finally, flickers of recognition.

"You mean that town where the kids were trapped in that dome caused by some retarded kid?" Jake, a lean kid with spiked ginger hair and narrow green eyes said. He wasn't the brightest of the bunch, he was actually dyslexic, but when it came to anything sport related, he was the star student.

"For a better word, yes," Lynn said.

"Didn't those kids get freaky powers?" Charlotte questioned, her voice shaky. "I heard that those kids were the ones that destroyed the town."

"Yeah, they did," Lynn responded. "But that was because some of them had ingested radiation from the meteor containing the Gaiaphage and the power plant's fallout. I don't know about any of you, but the last time a meteor hit anywhere near here was at least a couple of centuries ago. And the nearest power plant is fifty miles away, so chances are there won't be any 'freaky powers'."

"But didn't the kid that caused the FAYZ have some freaky power?" Ryan added. Lynn's expression faltered for just a moment, before her steely gaze returned.

"He did," she said slowly. "But there was never any concrete proof that he was the sole reason behind the barrier."

"Wait a sec," Ebony said. "If there aren't any powers, then surely that means that there isn't a barrier?"

"That could actually be true," Lynn said, her eyes lighting up in the realisation. But another serious expression crossed her face. "However, if there is a barrier, we know nothing of it. The FAYZ was a perfect sphere with a diameter of twenty miles. For all we know, there could be any shape of any size encompassing us. It could even cover the entire country, or even the planet."

"Great," Ryan said. "You're the only one with half a clue about what's going on, and even you know nothing of any real use. So, any ideas about what to do?"

"I'd say the best thing to do right now is go home," Lynn said. "We should go see if perhaps it was just the school that was affected. And if not, round up any younger siblings and either head home or somewhere you feel is safe -"

Lynn was cut off by the rumbling sound of an engine. All eyes turned to the far side of the room, with the still counting down timer. Five seconds left of the exam. Not that anyone had finished it. And then, a large blue car crashed through the wall, sending plaster and dust flying everywhere. Everyone leaped from their seats as the vehicle spun across the exam hall, crashing into the sturdier wall on the other side. A bicycle fell of of the roof, clattering to the ground. The exam papers fluttered about in the air for a moment, before gently floating to the floor. Desks were overturned, and tyre tracks were embedded in the floor. The car's alarm started blaring for a moment, but Ryan stuck his arm through the smashed window, and turned it off.

"Anyone hurt?" Lynn asked, standing up, brushing dust from her skirt.

"No, Charlotte said. "But my glasses broke." She pointed to the right lens, as if to enforce her point.

"Oh Jesus," Louis, a short pale kid with curly black hair said, scrambling to his feet. "Oh Jesus. It's the apocalypse, the end of the world. We're all gonna die!" An anguished cry of horror came from his lips, and he ran through the hole in the wall, outside, sobbing. Everyone else also stood to their feet, but nobody moved, all eyes on Lynn.

"Ignore him," she said. "Just stick to the original plan: head home, check for parents or any other adults. If not, find any younger siblings and bring them to the safest place you can think of for them. And don't do anything stupid." She didn't mask the sniping glare that was aimed in the direction where Louis ran off to.

"What about you?" Jake asked. "What are you gonna do?"

"I suppose go to the mall," Lynn said. "My mother works there, and considering it's pretty much the heart of the city, confused kids will likely go there. I'll give them advice if they end up going there."

"So you're playing leader?"

"Pretty much,"

"Well, at least someone's doing it," Ryan said. "The last thing we need is people going crazy over this."

* * *

The conversation died down, and slowly, the kids in the exam hall began to walk out. The majority of them took the hole in the wall, not wanting to see if any teachers were still around. Ethan, however, walked with Ebony and Raoul through the halls of the main school building, looking around for any sign of adults.

"Nobody," he said after checking the fifth classroom in a row.

"You've only checked five rooms," Ebony said flatly.

"I know that," Ethan replied. "And they're all English classrooms; I'm pretty sure there'd be a lesson going on in there."

"Not necessarily," Raoul added. "If it was the oldest year group, then there's a chance that everyone vanished at once."

"You're right," Ethan said with a sigh. "And besides, I need to look for my friends as well, see if they're okay."

"So long as they're not fifteen, they should be wherever their lesson is," Ebony said calmly. She was a small, petite girl of African descent who always had a mature, wise outlook on life. It alienated her from the majority of her peers, but Ethan appreciated the outcasts. He wasn't really an outcast though, more of one of those kids that just gets through life without ever drawing attention to himself. Which suited him just fine; he wasn't too keen on the idea of being a social creature.

"Where would your friends be right now?" Raoul asked. Ethan found that Raoul was kind of like Ebony in a sense; he didn't originate from this country, his family resided in the south of France, and as such had the slightest of accents. His olive skin and long dark hair helped him to stand out from the crowds somewhat, and he shared the same outlooks as Ebony. No wonder they were together.

"Biology," Ethan replied simply.

"That's on the other side of the school," Ebony said with a sigh. "Oh well, we'd better get over there."

They continued down the halls, the odd kid coming up and asking them if they'd seen their teacher. The answer was always no, and each time they quickly returned to their classroom, unsure of what else to do. Ethan hoped that they'd eventually get the message and go home.

Passing through the empty lunch hall, the three of them reached the elevator that led up to the science classrooms. Ethan punched the button, and the silvery door slid open. They stepped inside, and after one more push of a button, the elevator rushed up to the top floor; the science classes. They stepped out, and straight away the smell of various chemicals reached Ethan's nose.

"Which room are they in?" Raoul asked.

"The one at the far end," Ethan said. "You know, the one with the automatic doors?"

"Oh, yeah," Ebony said. "I was supposed to be in there next period."

"If what Lynn says is true, though, there won't ever be a next period," Ethan replied grimly.

"Unless there isn't actually a barrier," Raoul said hopefully. "Which I doubt."

"Yeah," Ethan said, trying to keep calm. "Now come on." The two younger students nodded, and they walked down the halls quickly, the principal of not running embedded in their brains. Not that there was anyone around to tell them otherwise.

As they drew close to the classroom, the automatic doors slid open, revealing the classroom. The classroom was devoid of any adults and over fifteens, like everywhere else. Which only left about four students, each of them looking out of the window, their faces pale. Looking around, it was clear that they had been in the middle of some sort of experiment when the vanishing happened. On the teacher's desk was some kind of plant hooked up to a tube. A steaming fluid was slowly dripping into it, spilling from the plant pot onto the floor. Text books were open on the same page, showing some complex diagram of a plant. Pens were scattered on the floor, and a half finished chemical equation was on the board. And at the window were the four remaining students: Ria, a brash, fun loving girl who was on a different wave length to Ethan; Tom, a quiet, intelligent boy that was known for his high grades; and Ethan's two friends: May and Chris. May was one of those people that always made the best of every situation, and this attitude was what had drawn Ethan to her. She had long brown hair that was currently done up in a simple braid, and had large green eyes that always seemed friendly and inviting. Chris looked the complete opposite to Ethan. Whilst Ethan was average height, with black hair and brown eyes, Chris was tall and lean, with soft looking blonde hair and bright blue eyes. He was also incredibly friendly with everyone, and was always the guy to go to with any troubles. As well as this, Chris was also a whiz at most school subjects, putting him in a favourable light with most people. It was a wonder that the two of them had been friends. But they'd known each other since they were seven, so they went a long way back.

"Ethan," May said with relief in her voice. "You're okay!"

"Yeah, I am," Ethan replied.

"How was the exam?" Chris asked, worry on his face.

"Oh, it was pretty boring," Ethan said. "Up until half of us taking the exam vanishing and the car crashing into the exam hall." Chris' face went grim.

"So it's not just us," he said.

"Lynn says that it's like the Perdido Beach Anomaly that happened over in California," Ethan said.

"The one with the barrier and the mutants?" May inquired.

"The very same," Ethan said wryly.

"If that's the case..." May said, reaching into her pocket. She pulled out her phone, and dialled a number. "No signal."

"Who'd you call?" Chris asked.

"My dad."

"There's a chance his phone might be switched off," he explained. "Try emergency services."

"What?" May said. "But that's only for the worst of emergencies."

"And this isn't?" Ethan added.

"You're right," she sighed, before typing in the three crucial numbers, and held the phone up to her ear. Nothing. "Damn it."

"Nothing?"

"Yeah,"

"This isn't good," Ria said, her face a deathly white. "What do we do?"

"Lynn says to either go home or wherever else you feel safe," Ethan said. "Lynn's going to the mall, if you want to see her about anything."

"That sounds like a plan," Tom said. "C'mon Ria, let's go see Lynn." Ria nodded, and the two of them walked out of the classroom, vanishing along the hallway.

"So now what?" May asked.

"I guess we get out of here, for starters." Ethan said. "I say we go home, and see if our parents are there. Also," he tugged at his collar, "to get out of these choking uniforms."

Suddenly, a ringing sound blasted out, and all four of them pressed their hands to their ears, trying to block it out. Ten seconds later, the sound stopped.

"Just the lunch bell," May said, sighing. "It sounds so much louder now that everyone's -" She never finished her sentence, as less than a second later, a chorus of screams filled the air.

Ethan, Chris, and May looked out of the window, watching as a sea of students aged eleven to fourteen rushed out from the main building, their panicked cries audible through the double-glazed glass. All at once, they ran through the main gates, before the crowd parted down the different roads, everyone rushing towards homes, other schools, parents' places of work. The entire display struck fear deep into Ethan.

What he was seeing wasn't just a panicked mob; it was the end of the world as he knew it.


	2. Two

**A/N: Hello again. This time we have chapter two, in which our main group tries to look for their families, and I also introduce another character, who isn't exactly in the best of places when the adults vanish. And I also have to address something; whilst the latter half of this chapter will bear similarities to what happened to another character, this will be pretty much the only major parallel to the FAYZ; the Oddity is going in an entirely different direction than the FAYZ did.**

**So, enjoy chapter two! :D**

* * *

**Two**

**251 Hours 47 Minutes**

* * *

It was warmer than usual outside, Ethan noticed, as he ran down the corner of the street with May and Chris by his side. Ebony and Raoul were just behind them, hand-in-hand. It was early June, but it was supposed to be a cold day today. And it was supposed to be cloudy. One look up proved that false; the only thing in the sky was the sun, shining brightly. However, looking up showed no signs of a barrier, which gave Ethan a sense of hope; perhaps it was just the school affected by this.

They turned right at the street sign, and were met with a grave sight as the highway that cut through town was visible. It was a massive pile-up of vehicles: cars, trucks, buses... none were exempt from the collision.

"Oh my god," May said, putting a hand over her mouth. "What happened here?"

"Quite clearly all the drivers vanished, leaving the cars to crash," Chris said.

"So this really is happening," Ethan said. "It's just like Lynn said; everyone over fifteen's gone." They continued to stare at the road in front of them for a few minutes, everyone half-hoping the police or an ambulance would come, and explain what had happened. Instead they simply heard the harrowing wail of a baby coming from one of the nearby houses. Nobody said anything as they crossed the highway, seeing no new traffic at all.

"It's kind of weird, you know?" May said. "Crossing this road and all. I mean, it's never empty. Not even really early in the morning. It's not normal."

"May, I hate to burst your bubble," Chris said. "But I think it's safe to say normal has crashed and burned."

Ethan's housing estate was in a fairly quiet area, with no real damage or graffiti anywhere. The cul-de-sac of houses looked similar from the outside; they all had perfectly cut front lawns, and various cars parked on the road side. The only exception was one house, where the car, a red Volvo, had rolled forwards, stopped by the wall of the house. The engine was still running.

"I imagine that this is the scene we're gonna find all across the city," Chris said absently, looking at the car. "Wonder who owned that car?"

"Old Maggie," Ethan replied. "You know, that friendly lady who breeds Labradors?"

"Oh, yeah," Chris said. "I remember now; we bought one from her for my cousin's birthday."

"Hey," Ebony said, pointing across the road. "Ethan, your house is open." The others followed her gaze, and saw Ethan's house, number 3, had the front door wide open. A handbag was laying on the floor, and the thin trail of smoke from a cigarette was visible once they got close enough.

"My parents must have just arrived home from work," Ethan said, stepping on the cigarette, putting it out. He grabbed the handbag, and stepped through the doorway. "I'm just gonna get changed; you guys can go grab a Coke from the fridge if you want."

Setting the handbag down on the dining table, Ethan ran upstairs and into his bedroom. He pulled out another outfit; a green t-shirt, a pair of jeans, and some high tops. He kicked his school shoes off, and pulled his tie off of his neck, setting it down on his bedside table. His blazer and school shirt were next, and so were his pants. He quickly slid into the new outfit, placing his school uniform in the laundry basket, even though his parents wouldn't be there to actually do anything about it. A heavy sigh came from Ethan's chest, and he wiped at his eyes, repelling the first signs of tears. He quickly tied up his laces, and made his way downstairs, finding the others in the kitchen, each person drinking a can of Coke. Ethan opened the fridge, and also grabbed a can, opening the top up.

"So, now what?" he said as the refreshing drink poured down his throat. "My parents aren't here."

"We could try May's house," Chris said. "She does live the closest."

The walk from Ethan's house to May's took a total of twenty minutes. On the way, they passed a small girl of about three, who desperately wanted to know where her daddy was. The only thing that the group could offer was for the girl to go to the mall and look for a girl called Lynn. This seemed to make the reality of the situation hit home for them. They also passed an overturned delivery truck, crates of groceries scattered along the road. However, there was nothing haunting about May's street. It was near the highway, but a nice enough neighbourhood. Except for that one young couple who seemed to hold crazy parties all day. The silence was unnerving.

"My house is the one with the flower pots," May said, leading them along the street. They stopped just next to a large grey SUV, and walked into May's house.

May's house was smaller than Ethan's, but still a nice place. The walls were adorned with a floral wallpaper, and lined with framed pictures of May and her parents at various holiday destinations. The carpet was an immaculate white, and Ethan felt as if his mere presence here was violating some rule. May had fallen silent, her face pale. They walked into the living room, which continued the same décor as the rest of the house, and May let out a strange sobbing sound.

"Hello?" she called out. "Mum? Dad? Anyone there?" The distant sound of a dog barking and a car alarm was the only answer she got.

"It was worth a shot, at least," Ethan said, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah," she said, taking a few calming breaths. "Just needed the confirmation that they're truly gone."

"Which probably means that Lynn's theory is correct," Chris said. "There's not really much point in looking for our parents."

"So what do we do?" Raoul asked.

"I guess we should probably make sure our houses are okay, for starters."

"Lynn's at the mall," Ethan said. "So we should probably go see if she has any idea about how to deal with any of this."

"Yeah," May said. "Let's do that."

* * *

Aimee glanced up from her iPhone for the thousandth time as the bus swerved sharply around the corner. She hated taking the public bus, but it was either that or walk to school. The bus hit a bump in the road, causing Aimee to bounce, falling forwards. She gripped onto the seat to steady herself, breaking her fall. She returned to her previous sitting position, and continued with the app she was using, trying to ignore the conversation going on between two very loud old men.

It was only bad luck that she managed to miss the school bus; Aimee had to go to a dental appointment today at ten in the morning, and it was either now or wait until December; every other available appointment was during the exam period. And they were a little more important than some basic dental hygiene. But at least it got her out of her first four periods, which meant that she only had to deal with an hour and a half of the idiotic students at her school. It was kind of funny that out of the three high schools in the city of Suffeld, Aimee's was renowned for its astonishingly high grades and performance from the students, yet it had the worst group of teens that she had ever seen. The other public school was on the south side of the city, and whilst it wasn't brilliant grade-wise, at least the majority of students there got along. The third was a private boarding school on the outskirts of town, and nobody ever really knew anything about that place, except that the fees for that school were extortionate.

The toddler in the arms of the woman in front of Aimee started crying loudly, the sound drowning out the two old men. Aimee groaned, and turned up her music, hearing nothing but the voice of the singer and the heavy drum beat. She nodded her head in time with the tempo, losing herself in the music. She tended to do that a lot, in and out of school. It helped her ignore the daily problems that faced her. Especially those at school; Aimee had a special type of hatred for them.

Throughout most of her school life, Aimee had been one of those kids who never stood out, got average grades, and had a couple of special friends. Well, up until October, at least. She had shared a secret with her closest friend, Carmen, in the hope that Carmen would keep the secret. Carmen swore to secrecy, but the following Monday at school, Carmen had spilled the beans; everyone knew about Aimee's identity as asexual. The mocking and the taunting was nothing compared to the burning betrayal Aimee felt. She had trusted Carmen with something like that, and Carmen had stabbed her in the back. And for what purpose?

Aimee changed the song on her playlist, listening to something more acoustic. She looked out of the window at the sight; they were crossing the bridge that went over the main street. The vehicles below were zooming by rapidly, and Aimee found herself fixated, until someone tapped her shoulder.

"Yes?" she said, turning her head around, seeing the woman with the toddler.

"Pardon," the woman said, speaking with a thick Yorkshire accent. "But could you go under your seat? Babby's dropped his bottle there, and I can't move, not with 'im on me lap; the bugger weighs a ton."

"Okay then," Aimee said, leaving her seat.

"Cheers," the woman replied.

Aimee crouched to the ground, looking under the seat, and found the bottle of milk; it was resting against her school bag. Aimee grabbed it, but let go immediately; the bottle was extremely hot. Waiting a few seconds, Aimee wrapped her hand around it again, finding it had cooled slightly. She lifted it away from her bag, and crawled out from under the seat. The song was changing to a fast paced, up-beat electronic one. The music was blasting at full volume, but Aimee didn't have any free hands to turn it down. Instead, she tugged one ear-bud from her ear using her mouth, and stood up, turning to face the woman.

"Here's your -"

But where the woman had been sitting mere seconds ago was now empty. Aimee looked around, and found that the entire bus was empty. Except for her. And the toddler, who had fallen to the ground. He was screaming.

"Ma! Mama!" The cries of despair wouldn't stop coming from the baby, but Aimee ignored them, her entire body frozen. No, this couldn't be happening... And then, Aimee heard several loud crashing noises. Her body moved almost robotically to the window, and she looked out, seeing the cars below piling into each other. The blood drained from her cheeks, and Aimee began to breathe heavily. This wasn't right. Not at all. And then, Aimee looked out of the front window of the bus, through the now empty driver's section. The bus was still moving rapidly forwards. The bridge took a sharp right turn a little further ahead, and the only thing in place to stop people from falling off was a metal railing. It would be useful in stopping an average person, but a four-ton bus was a different matter. Another cry from the toddler. Aimee had to do something; if she didn't, then the bus would simply careen off of the bridge, and fall a hundred feet, crashing into the road below. If that happened...

Aimee suddenly found herself running to the driver's seat, her entire body shaking in fear, tears coming from her eyes. No, she couldn't let the fear take her, not if she wanted to live. She gripped the wheel of the bus with her hands, and sat on the seat. She could see the pedals just below her feet. However, Aimee knew very little about driving, and had no idea which one was the break. Her foot came down on one of them. The bus started moving even faster. The next one did nothing. Which left the third one. It had to be the break.

The bus was now mere inches from crashing into the railing, and with a cry of horror, Aimee pressed down on the pedal, not stopping. The bus slowed abruptly, and Aimee lurched forwards as it pushed through the railings, coming to a complete stop as the front section dangled over the edge.

"Not so hard," Aimee said shakily, taking deep breaths of relief. She had saved both her life and the toddler's. As if hearing her thoughts, the toddler began to cry again. But now, Aimee could tend to him without the threat of certain death. "I'm coming; don't worry," she called out to the toddler, emerging from the driver's seat.

However, the exact moment that Aimee stepped towards the toddler, the bus began to move. Aimee froze as everything began to tilt towards the front of the bus, seeming to happen in slow motion. The toddler looked up at her with green eyes that were not unlike her own. He let out a sob. Aimee stepped towards him.

And then the bus fell over the edge of the bridge.

It happened all at once; Aimee had no time to do anything, no time to grab the toddler, no time to save herself. A horrified scream came from her mouth as she grabbed onto one of the rails on the bus, hanging on for dear life as she watched the toddler fall down the now vertical bus, onto the windscreen. He wailed and wailed and wailed, and Aimee could do nothing but scream and look past him as the road below drew closer. They were less than a metre from impact when Aimee shut her eyes, and thought of her mother, praying for her to save her somehow.

The bus hit the ground with a forceful impact that shattered the windscreen. The toddler's cries were silenced. The bus then fell forwards, once again returning to its vertical position. Aimee lost her grip, and fell down, slamming into the roof. For a moment, everything was calm, and then a car sped down the road, sans driver, and slammed into the bus.

The force of the impact was enough to start the bus rolling down the hill that the road was on. Aimee was thrown around the bus like it was a washing machine, slamming into what felt like every seat as the wreckage drew closer to the bottom of the hill. The Co-Operative grocery store at the bottom of the hill stopped the bus from rolling, the bus slamming into the solid walls, and Aimee was flung against the side of the bus, smashing one of the windows.

Aimee forced her eyes open, but that was all she could do. Her arms and legs wouldn't move. To her right was her bag, the white material coated a deep red. Pens and books were scattered across the book. It was a disaster zone in here. But Aimee realised something was missing; the toddler. She barely realised this before a tiny crumpled figure fell from the driver's seat, hitting the side of the bus next to Aimee with a thud. She looked over at the mangled corpse, and screamed. Tears soon followed, and Aimee began to shake uncontrollably. She was going to die; no doubt about it. Dead.

"Oh, god, please," Aimee whimpered, suddenly feeling weak. "I don't want to die. Please! I just want to live!" She lost the strength to speak, and continued to plea inwardly, until her vision began to cloud, her only thought to not die, to stay alive.

And then, Aimee lost consciousness, her head falling backwards, her blonde hair soaking in the pool of blood caused by the toddler's corpse.


	3. Three

**A/N: Hello again. This chapter only really focuses on Lynn, but this is where her character arc begins. And it also establishes one of the major locations within Suffeld, which may end up playing as large a role as Lynn does. ;D**

**Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

**Three**

**249 Hours 6 Minutes**

* * *

When Lynn had arrived at the mall, she had expected it to be an empty place that she could use to gather her thoughts and plan for the future in peace. Instead, what she found was about eighty first year students from North Suffeld High School running riot within the large complex. They had raided every vending machine, and about ten of them had overrun the Pizza Hut, turning it into some sort of rave club; even from the main entrance Lynn could hear the blasting music clearly. They didn't even have good taste in music.

Currently, Lynn was in the back store room of a Primark store, trying desperately to think. A second FAYZ had occurred, and from what she knew, the barrier at least encompassed all of Suffeld, if not further. However, she had no idea about the true size or shape of the barrier. It could be a sphere like the Perdido Beach Anomaly, or it could be a cube, or a prism, or some new, impossible shape. And then there was the question of the opacity of the barrier. They could see the sky, so it wasn't black, like the FAYZ was during its final week. Which meant that it was most likely the pearly grey that the Anomaly was originally like, or entirely clear. If it was clear, then they could communicate with the adults, which would help them survive. Of course, this was all assuming that this oddity followed the same rules as the FAYZ did. Lynn laughed; she liked that name: the Oddity. It seemed to fit this situation pretty well. Perhaps she could get people to refer to it somehow, to distinguish it from Perdido Beach. If she could get people to do anything at all.

"Free lemonade!" The cry of some kid reached Lynn's ears, and she sighed. Those kids were only about two and a half years younger than her, and they were behaving like animals at a rave club, just devouring everything in the mall. She could see it clearly: restaurants littered with leftovers, growing mould. The Burger King without a single scrap of food. Forgotten ovens setting the place on fire. These people needed a leader; someone to make sure everything remained fine. And even though she would rather not, it was looking like Lynn was going to have to step up and take responsibility. That was a novel concept for her; Lynn had never really taken responsibility, mainly because she lived her whole life with over-protective parents and an obsessive brother who wouldn't be able to cope if Lynn did so much as get a paper cut. Everything had been brought to her pretty much on a silver spoon. Hence why she had enough free time to research about the FAYZ. But her knowledge was limited to live interviews and the novels by survivor Astrid Ellison. They were good enough, but they never told the whole story; there were still major kids from the FAYZ that hadn't told anything. Lana Arwen Lazar, better known as the Healer, was one. All that Lynn knew was that Lana had the only pet in the FAYZ, could heal people, and had taken up smoking four months into the nightmare. But Astrid had hinted at Lana doing something more when written about in the novels. It was most likely something to do with the whole Gaiaphage fiasco; Astrid kept mentioning it, but it was almost as if the information was being censored out. Which was just great; all Lynn had to help her was a bunch of tales of starvation and murder. Nothing about how to bring the barrier down, or to escape. There hadn't even been any information on what was known as poofing; the moment of a kid's fifteenth birthday, when they leave the barrier. For the first month, the kids that had emerged were fine. But after that... Lynn still recalled screaming at the documented footage of Mary Terrafino.

So all Lynn had to go on was a compilation of horror stories. However, as this realisation sunk in, Lynn suddenly remembered something: Albert Hillsborough. He was the sole reason that the FAYZ hadn't fallen into madness, chaos, or starvation. From what Lynn recalled, Albert was one of the most respected people in the FAYZ. He was also skilled in leading kids, and had managed to create a work force that staved off hunger. Pretty much what Lynn was going to have to do. If only she had researched into Albert more. But it wasn't her fault that Albert's story wasn't that interesting, and Lynn didn't exactly see the Oddity occurring, did she? And there was another problem as well: Perdido Beach only had about 300 kids, whilst Suffeld had just over one thousand. There was no way that Lynn would be able to manage such a large number of people; she was practically useless with class group work, and those groups only had about six people maximum. And it wasn't as if fate had hand-picked Lynn to be some sort of mayor-type figure for these kids.

Lynn's nostrils flared. The smell of burning was in the air, and a thin stream of smoke was leaking into the room. Her eyes widened at the sight, and she leaped to her feet: something was on fire. As if reading Lynn's mind, the fire alarms started blaring throughout the giant shopping complex; the high pitched noise was deafening. She pressed her hands to her ears, and stumbled out of the store room, and into the main store. A rack of dresses had been thrown to the ground, and there was a shoelace on the ground, but the Primark was still in a pretty good condition. One quick look around proved that the source of the smoke wasn't within the store itself. Lynn sighed in relief: she was safe for now. But she had to find where the fire was, and extinguish it before it got out of control, and possibly set the entire mall alight.

A boy suddenly ran out of the Vodafone store opposite the Primark. He was a chubby boy with pale skin and light brown hair. His button-up shirt revealed his school's logo; Lynn noted that his tie and blazer were nowhere to be found.

"What's going on?" Lynn asked the boy, rushing up to him. He turned to face her, his wide blue eyes brimming with tears, his body trembling.

"The Pizza Hut," he gasped. "It's on fire!"

"What?" Lynn said. "But it was fine less than twenty minutes ago. What happened?" They were now running across the slick floor, their shoes squeaking.

"I don't know!" he cried. "One second we were dancing and eating from the vending machines, and then smoke came from the back area of the place!" Of course. Something was being prepared in there when the vanishing occurred. And since a bunch of eleven year olds weren't likely to think about that sort of thing, something caught fire. Lynn's mind was racing: how big was the fire? Was it likely to spread? How long had the blaze been burning for? Were there any kids in danger?

"Who's there?" she asked.

"Uh, besides me," the boy said. "There's Tony and Simon, and Max, Morris, and Sean."

"So quite a few of you," Lynn replied. "Were any of you close to the fire?"

"Well, Morris was sleeping, but I think that he would be awake by now."

"And the others?"

"No idea," the boy said. "I just ran out of there, looking for some way to put out the fire."

"Aren't there fire extinguishers in there, though?" Lynn asked. The boy turned red.

"Yeah, I guess there are," he paused to catch his breath. "I didn't think of that."

"Of course you didn't," Lynn said with a sigh. "Too bad that's the case, since that fire could easily grow out of control and potentially burn the entire mall down."

"What?!" The boy seemed extremely alarmed by this, as if he had no knowledge on fires at all.

"Yeah," Lynn said. "Did you not realise that all these stores are connected?"

"Oh no..." The boy started to breathe heavily. "No, please, no!" He suddenly grabbed onto Lynn. "Why are you doing this!? Shouldn't the fire department be handling this?!"

"If you haven't already noticed there isn't a fire department any more!" Lynn snapped at him. He let go, and slowed slightly as the strip of shops opened out to the upper plaza.

The upper plaza consisted of a ring-like balcony that went across, and the lower plaza was visible below. They were connected by two sets of escalators and three elevators. All around fire alarms were going crazy, and Lynn began to feel genuinely scared by this. She looked at the thick cloud of smoke rising from the gap in the middle of the balcony, and realised she was putting her life at risk here. But it had to be done: she couldn't let this place burn down. Lynn took one last look around, before running straight ahead. The boy followed her, his face pale. They ran through the cloud of smoke, emerging on the other side. Lynn looked around, seeing the escalator just a little further ahead. She also saw the walls: already the smoke was blackening this place.

"Come on!" she yelled, more for her sake than the boy's, and sprinted to the escalator. The grey steps moved downwards underneath Lynn's feet, but it was taking far too long; she took a deep breath, and ran down the escalator with surprising speed. She had nearly reached the bottom, as well, until one misplaced foot send Lynn flying down the remainder of the stairs, crashing on the floor below.

Lynn groaned for a moment, but stood back up immediately. Her left shoulder hurt slightly, but it was nothing really. She looked up the escalator; the boy was stumbling down, trying to catch up. He was taking too long. Far too long. And every second that Lynn wasted waiting for him was just decreasing the chances of stopping this fire.

"I'm gonna go on ahead!" she called up the escalator. "I can't risk the fire getting out of control: don't do anything stupid!" The boy nodded in understanding, before Lynn turned in the opposite direction, and ran down the path, following the stream of smoke.

The temperature was starting to increase rapidly, and Lynn felt sweat breaking out on her forehead. She wiped weakly at it, too occupied with the smoke; it was increasing in size the closer she got to the food court. The floor beneath her changed from a creamy colour to black-white checkers, and the stink of burning tomato was in the air: Lynn had arrived at the food court.

The food court was laid out like a cul-de-sac, but with several restaurants. The middle was filled with tables and chairs. Food was laying across them, some on the tables, some on the floor: Lynn saw at least two half-eaten Big Macs on the ground. And right on the other side she could barely make out the Pizza Hut sign. Smoke was billowing from the business, filling one side of the food court entirely. But Lynn could see into the McDonald's to her right, and saw five boys in there, each of them clutching a fire extinguisher.

"Hey!" one of the boys called. "Have you seen Dean?"

"Who?" Lynn replied, but soon realised. "Yeah, I have. He's near the escalator."

"Thank god for that," the boy said, before letting out a sob. "But we have a problem."

"I can see that," Lynn said. "I'll help you." The look of relief on their faces was immediately noticeable, and for a second, Lynn felt a sense of dread for saying yes to this. But it was too late to back out now, and _someone_ had to do it.

"Too bad that someone had to be me," Lynn said quietly to herself as she walked through the automatic doors of the McDonald's. The smell of fries filled the air, and she inhaled greedily. But, she reminded herself, she wasn't here to admire the food: she had to deal with the fire.

"Hey," a boy with curly blonde hair said. "Do you want this fire extinguisher? There aren't any more around here."

"Why not?" Lynn asked, even though the answer seemed obvious.

"Well, um, we kind of were playing about with them." His cheeks burned with humiliation, and he lowered his head, handing the fire fighting device to Lynn.

"Hey, it's fine," she said. "You're just kids at the end of the day; it's never been your responsibility to deal with any of this stuff." Lynn took a deep breath. "Okay, you guys stay safe: I'm going to try and tackle this fire."

"What?" the boy said instantly, his blue eyes wide. "Why would you do that? I was just thinking that we were getting these to give them to the fire department when they came, except that the phone line seems to be down, and my phone has no signal." As if to demonstrate, he lifed a Blackberry out of his pocket, and switched it on, pointing to the screen. "See? No bars."

"Yeah, it's like that all over Suffeld," Lynn said dryly. "I'll explain later."

With one last look, Lynn gathered all of her courage, and ran out of the McDonald's, her hands wrapped around the extinguisher. She ran across the food court, expertly dodging an abandoned wheelchair, her mind having enough time to wonder who was there when they vanished. Perhaps an elderly person, or someone with an injury or disability. But whoever they were, they were now gone. Not like it was anyone's fault or anything, it was just the way that things had happened.

Lynn was now deep into the smoke cloud, and could feel her lungs burning. She lifted her blazer awkwardly to her face, and took a shallow breath. Her lungs didn't feel any better, but it stopped the feeling of faintness. She crouched low, and saw something sliding through the smoke: the automatic doors. Relief washed over Lynn's smoke-stained face, and she rushed forwards, feeling the ground change beneath her feet.

The sound of the fire alarm was deafening; the high pitched ringing was seeming to get louder with every beep. Lynn ducked to the floor, unable to hold her breath any longer, and took a deep breath, looking up. The cloud of smoke was above her head, and she could clealy see that it was coming from the ovens behind the counter. Or at least what vaguely had the same shape as a counter; the smoke had blackened everything inside the Pizza Hut.

Lynn crawled across the floor, and around the counter. The heat was unbearable, and she took one last breath before standing up, armed with the fire extinguisher. She took several steps forward, and saw the bright orange glow. Her hands moved to the nozzle.

"Just like during fire practices at school," she told herself as she freed the lock on the fire extinguisher. She pressed down. Some strange foam erupted from it, the force pushing Lynn back. But she saw that it was simply falling to the ground: she needed to be closer.

Without hesitation, Lynn pressed onwards, moving closer to the fire. More foam came out, and Lynn heard the fizzling sound of part of the fire dying out. A triumphant grin crossed her face: she could do this. She took a couple more steps forward, foam still coming from the extinguisher, and located the power plug for the oven. She turned off the power switch with her food, and the humming of the oven died down. Relieved, Lynn took a few more steps forwards, her confidence growing.

This confidence was promptly shattered by a flame licking at Lynn's arm.

She let out a scream of agony, and fell to the ground, dropping the extinguisher. The flesh on her arm had already turned red, and it felt painfully hot; all she could think was that it was a good thing she was left-handed. But determination took over, and Lynn fumbled for the extinguisher, grabbing it. She stood up, and using only one arm, aimed at the fire, and fired.

Despite the lack of air, despite the fear, despite the pain, and despite the sheer confusion of the situation, Lynn managed to do it. The glow of the fire died out, and the cloud of smoke soon cleared. Lynn dropped the extinguisher to the ground, and collapsed to the floor herself, breathing heavily in the clearing air.

She had done it. She had successfully stopped a fire; she had saved the mall. Her face was black, and her right arm was badly burned, but she had done it. The horrendous ringing of the fire alarms died out, and an eerie silence filled the air. The smell of smoke lingered.

Lynn stood shakily to her feet, and walked out of the Pizza Hut. As she did so, she noticed a blackened tray of food on the counter, and money on the floor. Without meaning to, Lynn picked it up, and placed it in her breast pocket: it was just too hard to resist. And besides, it was, what, £15? Nothing anyone would miss.

She emerged from the Pizza Hut, and the six boys ran up to her, shaking, but happy. So incredibly happy.

"Oh my god, you did it!" they cried out in a chorus of joy.

"Yeah, I guess I did," Lynn said.

"You're a hero," one said, bowing in respect. "You saved us all. How could we ever repay you for this?"

This was the moment: Lynn could say no, and retreat to her home, and try to survive the Oddity on her own, or she could step up, take charge, and make a difference. Maybe become a leading figure. Maybe even save more lives. She contemplated it for no more than a minute before her mouth opened.

"Well, for starters you could find a first-aid kit for my arm," she mused. "Oh, and also a notebook and pen: I'll need it to keep a record of everything in this place."


	4. Four

**A/N: Hello there. Sorry for the wait here, but it's been a busy period of my life with school and stuff. In this chapter, I basically slap you around the face with gloves of foreshadowing, even if some of it doesn't make sense until much much later on. And then there's Mark, the poor kid. Although, I'm pretty sure you all will like what I've got planned for his character.**

**Also I picked a kind of odd day to write for this story again: today's my fifteenth birthday (I technically reach my exact moment of birth in about an hour from now) which is quite odd. Now excuse me whilst I hide in a hole and prepare myself for the poof. XD**

* * *

**Four**

**247 Hours 46 Minutes**

* * *

Ethan looked out over the bridge at the highway below and saw even more terrifying horror. The large, busy road below them was normally full of vehicles rushing by. Now, it was silent. Any vehicle that was on the road when the drivers vanished had crashed: strange piles of cars in the middle of the road were visible. Looking further ahead still, Ethan noticed a bus that had rolled down the hill, crashing into the grocery store at the bottom. He didn't want to think about how many of them probably contained children in them. Children that were most likely very much dead.

Behind him were Chris and May, both of them changed out of their school uniforms, and into regular clothing; May wore a pale green t-shirt and a pair of white shorts, whilst Chris wore a red checked button up shirt with jeans: Ethan and his friends weren't really for following fashion trends. Ebony and Raoul had left them when they went to Chris' house; Raoul's two year old sister was at the day care centre in the east side of Suffeld, and she was too young to be left alone.

It would be like this everywhere: Suffeld was a large place, and as a result was full of day cares, pre-schools, and primary schools. All of them full of kids as young as a few months old. Something had to be done about it. Ethan looked down at the road where the bus had plummeted to its doom, and noticed that the ground was littered with items, most likely from a bag. At first glance he assumed it to be nothing more than some adult who vanished, leaving their bag behind. But he then noticed a text book, GCSE French higher level, on the road: he had recognised it by the bright yellow colour, and that he had been carrying a bunch of them across the language hallway at school earlier this morning. Next to it was a copy of a novel that Ethan had been reading this morning at home as well; it was a bizarre coincidence. The book was open to some page, but that wasn't what bothered Ethan. What bothered him was that blood covered the two books. Whoever owned those items had been in the bus when the adults vanished, and under fifteen. Probably around Ethan's age. And judging from the impact at the bottom of the hill, their body was in the bus: there was no way anyone could have survived that. A chill struck Ethan, and he looked away, focusing on Chris, who was looking in the same direction as Ethan.

"Do you think..." Chris began, but his voice trailed off.

"I really hope not," Ethan replied, keeping his voice as steady as possible. "There might not be anyone there anyway."

"What about the blood?" Chris' point made Ethan freeze. They both remained silent for a few minutes afterwards, looking solemnly at each other.

May came running down the bridge, her eyes wide; Ethan hadn't even noticed that she had left.

"Hey guys!" she said. "You've got to see this!"

"What is it?" Chris asked her.

"It's the railing on the bridge," she said. "It's been broken." May looked at the two of them, before running back down the bridge. "Come on!"

"We'd better go see," Ethan said. Chris nodded, and they ran down the bridge after May, stopping once they caught up to her.

"See?" May panted, pointing at the metal bars. "Broken." The two boys looked over at it, and stopped still. Ethan felt a chill again. The way that they had been smashed through would have matched a bus.

"So that explains the blood on the road," Chris said coolly.

"What?" May asked.

"Down the hill," Ethan said. "There's a crashed bus, and," he took a deep breath, "and there's blood. On the road." For some reason, he found himself getting choked up. "Whoever was on there's most likely dead."

The words sent them all into a solemn state of silence.

"No..." May said. "This isn't right; it can't be happening."

"But it is," Ethan said. "It's only been a couple of hours, but we've already seen our first body." He let out a sigh, his voice catching. "And I doubt it'll be the last."

"What do you mean?" Chris asked. "You think there'll be more people dying?"

"I know it," Ethan snapped. He felt himself shaking, and gripped onto the railing to stop himself from bursting out into a fit of sobs. "What's happening here? Why us?"

"I don't know," May replied. "From what I remember about this thing in California, it all started because of an alien virus absorbing a dead man's DNA, or something equally science-fiction-like."

"Whatever caused this doesn't matter though," Chris suggested. "What's important here is keeping everything under control, and making sure we don't descend into chaos."

"And something else makes me think that what's happening here isn't exactly like California either," Ethan said.

"What?"  
"Well, think about it," he said. "As soon as that dome appeared, the kids in there started getting weird powers. And so far I haven't seen any indication of that anywhere."

"You're right," May said. "Maybe that means that if there is a barrier, it can be broken through. In which case, staying together at the mall will help the adults find us." The boys both gave nods of agreement, and the three of them took off down the road, heading into the middle of Suffeld.

The bridge sloped downwards, joining up to another section of the main road, which was far less chaotic: it was apparent that there was a traffic jam here when the adults vanished. Every engine was still on, and they collectively formed a chorus of low vibrations and exhaust fumes. As the three of them weaved through the traffic, following the signs to the mall, Ethan began to wonder about the entire situation. All across Suffeld everyone over fifteen had vanished all at once without warning, leaving the kids behind. Most likely trapped. Maybe permanently. Nobody knew anything about how it had happened, which meant that the largest priority right now was remaining calm; enough panic could level the city. And another part of Ethan felt something different: a deep, underlying sense of terror. It was so subtle, that he wasn't even sure it was there. Like when an insect flew around, and he could barely see it out of the corner of his eye. Or like when he was listening to music on his headphones, and sometimes thought he heard someone saying something, only for silence when he paused the music. Like that. And almost seemed to be dropping hints into Ethan's subconscious, like a warning that something really bad was on its way in the near future. Something he would regret ignoring. But for now, at least, there wasn't any trouble.

Ethan looked up, and barely avoided walking into a street lamp.

"You okay?" Chris asked.

"Fine," Ethan replied. "Just spaced out for a moment, is all."

"Okay then," Chris said. "But try not to do that, okay?" Ethan nodded in response, and continued to follow Chris and May as they walked down a flight of stairs: they were taking the underground tunnel system to the mall. Ethan had always hated going down there: the maintenance was awful, and several times complete power failure had occurred whilst he was down. As far as he was concerned, this system was Suffeld's way of trying to appeal to the tourism industry; despite being such a large city, Suffeld was so far out of the way that not many people tended to find it that easily; it was practically in the middle of nowhere, residing on the borders between the three counties of Lancashire, Cumbria and Yorkshire. That was one of the things that drew people in, but not enough to make Suffeld as popular as other cities of similar sizes. Ethan guessed that if Suffeld was just a little closer to the coast, then it would be flooded with tourists. And then perhaps they would be able to afford a better underground tunnel system.

As they walked further down the staircase, Ethan immediately began to notice the change in scenery. The bright concrete steps became dull and cracked. Clean walls were flooded with graffiti. The unusual warm atmosphere outside turned cold and damp. A series of low hanging light bulbs lined the cracked roof. Half of them didn't work. The other half flickered rapidly. They reached the bottom of the stairs, and concrete slabs became cream-coloured tiles. Litter was strewn across the floor. Torn up posters and fliers were scattered about, the remains of some still hanging onto the wall. And most notably, nobody was down there.

"This place always gives me the creeps on a good day," May said, folding her arms. "Never mind now. It's like we've stepped into another world."

"And we haven't already?" Chris quipped dryly. "Hey, which way is it to the mall?"

"I know," Ethan said. "We just follow the tunnel on the right. It opens up just outside the car park. It'll take us about five minutes to get there." Nervously, Ethan took a step forward, and began to walk down the tunnel, Chris and May just behind him. The flickering light cast deep shadows, and Ethan felt a stab of paranoia. Like something was down here that he should be noticing, yet wasn't. He glanced ahead of him, and only saw a darkened portion of the tunnel: the lights there had completely died.

Suddenly, movement. Ethan froze, and watched as a figure seemingly materialised from thin air, silhouetted by the darkness. It turned to face him, and started running out of the shadows. A single hand became visible in the light, and then the figure vanished. Ethan looked back at Chris and May, who were discussing something. Judging by how they were, they hadn't seen the figure. _Just the fear getting to you, Ethan,_ he thought to himself as they walked through the shadows, becoming aware of the sound of their footsteps echoing around the empty space. And then, Ethan realised how quickly they had become adjusted to this situation. No, adjusted would be the wrong term: they had merely occupied themselves with other things to distract them from the true horror. That would sink in later.

"Hey," May said. "I see the end of the tunnel!" Ethan looked ahead, and sighed in relief. There, just a little further ahead, was the staircase.

"Told you it wasn't that far," Ethan said to her, and increased his walking pace as they drew closer. Thank god he still remembered it: it had been two years since Ethan had been down here with his mother, and he barely remembered it; back when they first entered the tunnel, he was almost certain that the way to the mall was the tunnel to the left. The absence of signs didn't help either; if Ethan recalled correctly, the left tunnel brought them to the train station on the other side of the city. And if that happened, they wouldn't be out of this place until night. And that option was probably best avoided: any more fear would be unnecessary.

The afternoon sunlight was blinding as the three of them resurfaced. The first Ethan focused on was a car to the right of him; a green Ford. Quite old, too, by the looks of it. The front doors of the car were wide open as well. The owner of this vehicle had vanished as they were getting in. Ethan vaguely recalled seeing this car somewhere before; probably a parent of someone at school. No way of telling if their kid was in here, or out there. If the adults and over fifteens had gone just outside of the barrier when they vanished. Which was where they would most likely be if this followed a similar pattern to California. And if it did... Ethan suppressed a sob of terror. The kids in California had been trapped for nearly a year. A year without adults and older kids. A year with dwindling resources. A year with kids going crazy. This all hit Ethan at once, and he realised the gravity of the situation for the first time.

"No..." he said out loud, not meaning to.

"What?" Chris said, a worried expression on his face. "Ethan, are you okay?"

"No, I'm not okay, Chris," Ethan snapped back, his voice breaking. "Everyone fifteen and up is just gone, and we're most likely sealed in some sort of barrier for god knows how long, and you expect me to be _okay_?!" Tears were spilling from his eyes. "I just... I want my parents."

"Oh my god..." May said. "I knew that you were keeping it together, but I didn't know that _this_ was what you were holding back." She ran over to Ethan, and wrapped her arms around him, a few tears rolling down her own face as well. "I'm so sorry..."

Chris stood there, watching as May and Ethan released their anguish, choking back tears of his own, until he saw a mass of kids walking through the car park into the mall. He walked away from his two friends, and approached a second year girl with blonde hair tied up in a braid.

"Hey, excuse me," he said. "What's going on?"  
"A girl called Lynn said for us all to go to the mall," she replied. "She says she's got a plan for what to do now that all the adults have gone." She was projecting an air of confidence, but her voice caught slightly at the end of the sentence.

"Has she?" Chris said. "Thanks for letting me know; I'll go in there and speak with Lynn, since we're friends."  
"Okay then," the girl said, walking away. "See you." Chris waved at her, and returned to Ethan and May, who had once again composed themselved, wiping the tears from their face until it looked like they had been sweating, not crying.

"So, any idea what the parade of kids is about?" May asked.

"Yeah," Chris said. "Lynn's got some plan to help us through this."

"We should probably see her," Ethan said. "Perhaps she does have some way to help us pull through."

Ethan began to walk ahead, immediately accompanied by Chris and May. They joined the sea of kids, and headed towards the entrance of the mall.

* * *

Mark had been sitting on his bed as his mother cleaned the room around him when the wall appeared. It had cut through his bedroom, coming between him and his mother. The pearly grey barrier had also cut him off from the door and half of the window, leaving him trapped in a tiny space with no way out.

Six hours later, and Mark was sat in the corner, his knees huddled up to his chest. His brown hair was a mess. His head was pounding from dehydration. And he found it was gradually becoming harder and harder to breathe. He learned about this in science last week: being trapped in a confined space with no way for oxygen to get in meant that eventually the air supply would run out, and he would suffocate. He breathed in deeply, but his lungs felt as if he had taken the lightest breath possible. He had no idea what had happened. The only thing he knew was that he was now trapped in the corner of his bedroom, and was running out of air. He had tried to get past the barrier, but touching it gave him a powerful electric shock, enough to probably electrocute somebody. Yet the pain vanished the second that he stopped touching it.

There was no way that this wall could be there. Impossible. Things didn't just appear out of thin air and doom someone to their death. But it wasn't like the wall wasn't really there; Mark had made sure of that. Several times. Another breath. He began to feel light-headed. More breathing. Dizzier.

"Oh, god," Mark whispered, his vision blurring. "Please, help me."

The young boy who had decided to stay home by faking the flu in order to avoid a history test, now trapped in the corner of his own bedroom, starving of oxygen, passed out.


End file.
